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Locked on 06/28/2006 10:23:18 AM PDT by Lead Moderator, reason:
New thread here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1657186/posts |
Posted on 04/20/2006 2:10:46 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
New verse:
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Upon the hearth the fire is red, |
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Still round the corner there may wait |
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Home is behind, the world ahead, |
Phew!
Just dug out next year's berry-bush bed. I can't decide between blueberries or blackberries. This summer I'm going to plant it in squash and marigolds....maybe okra if there's room.
This is looking down the path from the house. See the cracks in the sidewalk? They aren't even that noticeable now, but before, that whole big piece was at an angle and separated from the rest. Also the area beyond it, with the little trees, was covered in small assorted frap particles and bits of burned board. Now it looks all nice and tidy!
I'm planning to go around the borders with river rock. There's no shortage of it here. I seem to get a new crop every couple days, and putting 'em here will make both me and the lawnmower happy.
Another view of the gravel - that's two truck loads, mind you...gives an idea of how uneven that ground was. I still need to get some fill dirt for the lawn on that side, but that can wait.
And...the redneck garden. Remember the tires the landlord put along my drive and haphazardly painted? This is 'em. I wanted a raised bed, and I got one. The price was right, after all, which is vey important this year.
Because they're wide, getting to the center bed is a little tricky, but mostly I'll be planting corn in there, which won't need a lot of tending. I'll be putting other, smaller crops around the corn (pumpkins and cukes, maybe), and then various other things in the tires. I'm thinking the black ones might work for little chili peppers of some sort, as they stay pretty warm - but it'll partly depend on what plants I find available. I'm hoping I can do 'maters in the taller stacks. Need to visit a plant place.
It ain't pretty, but hopefully it'll work!
Every time I've mentioned anything...they kinda act suspicious...like I'm trying to get something in return. But maybe they just need time to see I'm a good tenant. ;-)
I'm plotting out what I wanna put in the pots around. Dunno if I want to waste any on just herbs, or if I'll just get a few extra window boxes to put those in. They'd be nice to put along the patio area in the back.
Which leaves me lots of space...hm...
I'm wondering if I should go to Fred Meyer first to look for garden plants - I imagine they'd be slightly less expensive than the average green house, and their stuff always looks good and healthy.
Well, that's their whole problem. They don't realize that by not seeing the value in the things like the fence, and landscaping, they are penny wise and pound foolish, and why most people who would have rented the place in the condition it was in are the type to leave it as trashed as they found it. Your place, like mine, will be worth more when you leave it than when you found it, that's for sure.
And then there's the tire garden, which will just make them go 'hmmmm'. :~D LOL
This is a good solution to get you started this year, maybe next year you can pretty it up some more :~D
Happy Mothers Day to the Hobbit Hole mothers! And others!
Getting to be too hot for most vegetables here until spring. 'Course, the papayas and mangos are doing pretty well! Tomatos are about burned out, though.
Up north here, it's just getting warm enough to start :~D
I just hope there's enough depth to everything for it to work.
Let's see...what else is easy to grow? I've already got corn and punkin seeds (thanks!), and also various herbs and some lettuce seeds. I had decent luck with peppers...though I do worry they won't have enough soil, but it's worth a shot. Tomatoes...well, they're finicky, but I want to try. I've had better luck with cherry types than standard tomatoes, but I'd really like some "real" ones. Other than that...I'm running out of ideas for what to look for. Just flowers, I guess! Beans would be nice, but I'd think they'd need more dirt than that, not to mention more than just a post to grow on...which is about all I could give 'em. Those I could get cheap seeds for, though, so maybe they'd be worth trying for. Either that or I could grow 'em on the fence somewhere. In my experience, they don't need much in the way of rich soil or much care.
Heh...it's only *just* warm enough for most of these seeds to start germinating! The lettuce is the only thing that might find it slightly warm...but even that shouldn't have trouble.
There are 'bush beans' my mom used to grow, that only get a foot and a half tall and don't need so much support. You might look for those. I wondered if, around the tomatos and beans and even the other things, if it wouldn't work to make some 'tubes' out of the old fencing we've got, which would serve to both give them support, and also keep Cisco out of it.
I'd start by punishing him hard for setting foot in it, if he does today, but you're gonna want to fence it so he doesn't break your heart by trashing it while you're at work.
Right now it's hard to tell what his normal behavior would be. When I got home, I caught him redhanded with a mouthful of tortilla - still in the bag. *sigh*
So he's being all good and not going near the garden, since I scolded him away from it earlier and he's being repentent. I have a feeling that won't last.
Didn't end up getting any kinda beans...but I used up all the tires anyhow, so that's OK.
Pony is *furious* that you went on a fun trip without her. ;-)
Garden is all planted! I got a regular sized tomato variety that's supposed to be possible to grow in pots - a Roma type. Also got a cherry tomato plant...we'll see if that survives. I did get a hugh bag of potting soil to add to the soil that was already in the tires, to fluff it up a bit and so the tomatoes had a little more room.
Also got a few small pepper varieties - those may not work, but they were cheap and healthy lookin', so I figured I'd try. Got a Tabasco type and milder green type...can't recall the name. Began with an "a", I think.
I planted the corn and some punkins in the middle part. Outside tires got the peppers and tomatoes, herbs, one hill of cukes, lettuce, and a few petunias for color. They had a flat of 48 petunia plants for ten dollars...not bad. I actually have wayyy too many left over. Need more potting soil so I can put 'em in a few more pots, I guess!
Can't wait to see green stuff comin' up where I planted seeds...
Well I got my squirrel/tomato strategy all set....the squirrels will probably be sick of tomatoes. :)
Got lots of okra too, assuming that they'll survive. Gumbo, anyone?
Mmmm...okra...
We may be too far north to grow that, but if I have more space next year, I may try anyhow.
I don't have to worry about squirrels, but I do have to worry about the dog. :-\ Not sure how that'll play out.
I think I started way too many plants. :) At least now I have some greens that are looking pretty good and un-bunny gnawed.
I wonder if theplanterbox gets enough sun for marigolds to bloom there...
...anyway, I don't feel like doing anything more today, so I'm going to goof off.
I think my marigolds got too *much* sun. Or something. In any case, I still have alyssum and VERY happy pansies, but the marigolds are all but dead. Strikes me as odd since I usually have really good luck with 'em.
I should really mount the new mower blade and do some mowing...but it's too hot. In my opinion, of course.
Did you put too much fertilizer in when you planted them? I kilt some marigolds that way once. I think they got fertilizer burn the first time it rained. :(
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